This invention relates generally to object locating and orienting devices and particularly to such a device for orienting and locating kinescopes at a precise location.
There is a trend in industry to automate the production and testing of various articles of manufacture. This is particularly true of the manufacture of kinescopes for television receivers and monitors. Typically, late in the manufacturing process, the kinescopes are tested to verify that the various electrical and operational characteristics are in conformity with the manufacturing specifications. For such testing, the kinescopes are placed upon a conveyor with their screens in the same vertical orientations as when the kinescopes are in receivers. The necks of the kinescopes, thus, extend horizontally when their viewing screens are vertical. The conveyor is incremented to various positions where various tests are performed. To facilitate the automation of the testing process, the kinescope necks must be oriented and located at a precise location so that test sockets can automatically be applied to the neck of the tube. Also, kinescopes are produced in several sizes and, typically, various sizes of kinescopes are randomly run along the same production line. Accordingly, various size kinescopes are randomly conveyed along the production and testing lines to the various testing positions. For these reasons, there is a need for a device for precisely orienting and locating kinescopes of various sizes at a precise location. The present invention fulfills this need.